Clockwork
by Acepilot6
Summary: No.12 in the Road series. Phil DeVille settles into his life's latest routine...Please r


**Clockwork  
**Acepilot

AN - No.12. in the "Road" series. Just a bit of fun, really. Hope you all enjoy it. Gee, this series has gotten pretty big, considering I almost canned it after the third one. This is another expanded scene from a fic that didn't quite work. The same one that "Nights..." came from, actually.

Disclaimer - Characters aren't mine, they belong to KlaskyCsupo. This story is making no money. Or if it is, I haven't seen a cent of it.

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1:28am. Get up quietly, carefully. Fumble on bedside table for glasses, put them on. Grab dressing gown off the back of the door. Look back at my sleeping wife, admire her for a few seconds. Open the door - carefully. I really gotta oil that hinge.

1:29am. Tiptoe past the nursery. Pause to look in the door. Make sure Marcus and Cara are still asleep. They are. Rub sleep out of eyes, creep down the stairs.

1:30am. Fill kettle.

1:31am. Grab chess board, put in the middle of the table.

1:32am. Put kettle on stove, turn stove on high. Start setting up cups. One Garfield mug with one coffee and one sugar; one Snoopy mug with a teabag and no sugar.

1:33am. Flick on the TV - quietly - and check out the news. Nothing interesting. New laws that mean nothing, new politicians telling old lies, and new stories about waterskiing hamsters. Ho-hum. Flick over to the cartoons.

1:35am. It's a chess morning, I think. Put the bag of checkers away, put the bag of chess pieces in the middle of the table.

1:38am. Turn off kettle before whistling wakes the family. Pour water in both mugs, splash of milk in the tea. Carry them delicately out to the table.

1:41am. Set up chess board.

1:44am. Unlock door.

1:45am. Open door. "Come on in."

Chuckie walks in, completely unsurprised to find me waiting for him. We've got this down to a pretty good routine over the last five months.

"You could have warned me about this, y'know."

I shake my head at him. "I did, old buddy. You just didn't listen."

"You said they got crabby!" He defended himself, quietly. This has got one advantage. Our hearing has gotten excellent. We can both hear a whisper from ten paces.

I nodded. "I kind of assumed you'd take it for granted that Angelica would be an extremist in that regard."

He shakes his head violently. "This is beyond extremist! This is ridiculous. White or black?"

"Your turn to be white," I tell him, pulling up a seat. "What did you do this time?"

"Asked her to take out the garbage." King's pawn forward.

"Ouch." Same move. "Have you ever thought about just not talking?"

"Then she thinks I'm being insensitive." King's bishop three squares up.

Queen's Rook's pawn two forward. "Sticking to compliments alone?"

"Thinks I'm being sarcastic." King's knight opening. He's going to castle.

"You're in a bit of a lose-lose situation, aren't you?" Queen's Knight's pawn forward one.

"Pretty much." Castle. Knew it.

Queen's Rook two forward. "Oh well."

"But it's worth it." He moves his rook across to meet his queen. "Well, at least, I hope it's worth it."

I down the last of my coffee, and get up. He follows me into the kitchen, pulling bottles out of the cupboard while I grab the baby formula. "I reckon it is," I tell him, busying myself with the formula. "I mean, it ain't easy. But...trust me, it's worth it."

"What took you guys so long, anyway?" He asks, rinsing out the mugs.

I lean back on the bench, contemplating. "I dunno." Well, it's the honest truth. "I guess...well, we'd waited two years out of necessity - neither of us wanted to get married in college - and then...well, we'd just gotten so _comfortable_, we didn't want to change."

"So you waited almost two more years?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I stir the baby formula, watching it all blend together. "But now I'm here, I have no regrets. And I love my family, and I love my life." I stick the bottles in the microwave, and we go back to the chess game.

"I'm glad you're happy, Phil, and I'm glad my sister is too."

"You and me both." Queen's Rook two across.

2:09am. Microwave beeps once and cuts off. Chuckie and I get up and retrieve the bottles, heading up to the twins room where Cara is just starting to whimper quietly. Marcus is studying his fingers. Chuckie scoops him up and offers him the bottle, which he takes greedily. I pick up Cara carefully and bounce her gently, quieting her crying before feeding her.

2:13am. Bottles empty, children full.

2:15am. Children empty. Chuckie's shirt a little heavier.

2:19am. Chuckie's Queen moves up one space.

2:22am. Go and get the cordless phone.

2:23am. Phone rings, I slide it over to Chuckie.

"Hey, Angelica."

2:32am. Get into bed, carefully, quietly. Take glasses off, put them on bedside table. Roll over and look at my sleeping wife, kiss her softly on the forehead. She sleepily rolls over and snuggles up next to me, and I wrap an arm around her shoulders.

I could get to enjoy this kind of life. But the hours are killing me.

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an - so, thoughts? opinions? some people have e-mailed me, suggesting that i write more fics like the early ones, which focused more on the couples (particuarly c/a). i want to do that, sure. but at the moment, i'm just finding it hard to write that sort of story, but i'm writing these at a rate of knots. so i hope you're enjoying them. please review. any constructive criticism will be taken on board.


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